


The Marauders And The Horrendous Howler

by Alice_Writes_Stuff



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Howlers (Harry Potter), Marauders, Marauders' Era, POV Remus Lupin, POV Third Person Limited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 11:46:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_Writes_Stuff/pseuds/Alice_Writes_Stuff
Summary: After their first week at Hogwarts, the Marauders are looking forward to getting their first letters from home. However, it quickly becomes clear that one of these letters is not like the others. But could the fallout from this spark the beginning of a decade of friendship?





	The Marauders And The Horrendous Howler

**A.N- So, I know it's been way too long since I posted anything or updated anything. Real life has been kicking my ass far more than I ever planned on it doing. However, I am trying to get back into writing here, so in order to kick that off, here's a wee one-shot! This will hopefully serve as a prequel to another Marauders era fic that I'm working on, but we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! Don't forget to read and review, and as usual I own nothing!**

They had been at Hogwarts for about a week when the red envelope fell onto the breakfast table. Remus had not intended to still be sitting with his room-mates, the boys from the train. He hadn't intended to so much as sit in the same compartment as them in the first place, but that was how things had panned out. The problem was, after the last seven years, he didn't really know how to be friends with anybody. Not that it mattered, of course. Once they found out who he was- what he was- they wouldn't want anything to do with him.

As things stood right now, the three of them did seem to want to be his friend. At the centre of it all, the one who seemed to be gently, yet insistently, tugging them all together was James Potter. He had glasses, and black hair that was never anything less than messy. He seemed determined to take the three of them under his wing, for whatever reason.

Then there was Sirius Black, who seemed even more cautious of them than Remus was. He also had black hair, but his was far neater. He seemed to always dress like he was expecting to get his photo taken, neat and orderly, but also very posed and deliberate. So far, he had stayed pretty quiet, like he was afraid to get too close. For a moment, Remus had wondered if they were afraid of the same thing. But they weren't. Sirius wasn't scared of himself. He was scared of them, of being friends with them.

Finally, there was Peter Pettigrew. Peter was a muggle-born, something that Sirius in particular seemed to have a problem with- a viewpoint which James had no tolerance for. He was an awkward-looking boy, with twitchy hands, front teeth which stuck out a little, and a nose that was just a bit too long. A meaner person would've said that he looked a little like a rat in a Hogwarts uniform. Remus liked to think he wasn't a mean person, so he wasn't going to say that. At least, not to his face.

Together, the four of them looked pretty mismatched. But something- maybe fate, maybe coincidence- had brought them together anyway. For the last week, they'd sat together at meals, and in classes when they could. And for the last week, Remus had stayed on the outermost edge, hiding clenched fists behind the sleeves of his robes, waiting for the rug to be pulled away, waiting for the moment where he would need to fight back. Because he wasn't stupid, he knew that this wasn't going to last.

But it was Friday now, and somehow nothing had changed. Somehow they hadn't turned against him yet. But it would be a few more Fridays until Remus could stop expecting them to. To accept that they were his friends, and he didn't have to fear losing them.

The morning passed much like the last few had. Sirius had sent his first letter home a couple of days ago, and he was hoping for a response today. Peter had sent a letter home, too, though he wasn't sure when he'd get a reply.

“We should have a telephone,” he said. “It would make this sort of thing much easier.” James and Sirius both looked at him in confusion.

“What's a telly-phone?” James asked. Peter shrugged.

“It's a muggle thing, it lets you call people that are a long distance away.” They still looked a bit confused. Remus wanted to explain it, he liked explaining things- but the words got stuck. They'd been doing that a lot since he'd started here. It was like he kept forgetting how to speak. He sighed, and pulled a bit of parchment and a pencil from his bag. Quickly, he sketched a picture of a phone. It wasn't great, but it should at least give them an idea.

“See?” he managed. He looked down at the picture, which somehow made it easier to talk about it. “You hold that part to your ear,” he pointed to the receiver. “Then you turn that wheel around as many times as you need to, and that puts the number in. Then you talk into the receiver part. There's a bit more to it, but that is basically how it works.” When he looked up, the three of them were staring at them, as were a few of their classmates.

“I think that's the most you've said all week, outside of class,” James finally said. _Don't get used to it_ , Remus wanted to say. But, as if on cue, his voice had dried up, and no more words came out. Which was just as well, because at that point the mail came.

They all got a letter that morning. Remus got a plain, fairly slim envelope- probably from his parents, asking how his week had been, whether or not he had made any friends. He flipped it over, and smiled when he saw his address written on the back. He was about to open it, when Peter spoke up.

“Why's your envelope red, Sirius?” Remus hadn't even noticed Sirius's envelope, but once he saw it- bright red, with a neat address written on the back, he knew what it was. His father had told him about them, about a week before he'd left for school. It was a Howler, and it spelled trouble. Sirius wasn't opening it, just staring at it in horror. Peter reached for it, presumably curious about what it was. James plucked it from his hand, and gave it back to Sirius.

“It's a wizard thing, Peter,” he explained. “It's called a Howler, and it usually gets sent to kids who have done something really, really bad.” He looked at Sirius then, like he was trying to work out what this quiet, shiny boy could've possibly done that was severe enough to warrant this. Remus wondered the same thing, and he met James' concerned eyes for a moment.

“I should probably open it,” Sirius said, though he looked terrified by the very idea. Slowly, carefully, he opened the envelope. No sooner had he done so, a loud shriek burst forth from it. Sirius dropped it instantly, but it floated up to his face anyway, twisting itself into the shape of a mouth.

“ _Sirius Orion Black!_ ” the letter shrieked. “ _You are a disgrace to this family. I am deeply, deeply ashamed to call you my son_.” Sirius had gone very pale by this point. “ _Why didn't you try harder to be placed in Slytherin? Centuries of tradition, and you want to tear it down!_ ” Sirius stumbled to his feet, his hands clamped over his ears. By now, everyone in the dining hall had turned to look at them. Sirius ran from the room, but the letter continued on.

 _“And as for these friends that you seem so pleased with..._ ” Whatever Sirius's mother had been planning on saying about his friends, however, was cut short. At that point, the letter caught fire. The three of them turned, then, to see their Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, striding down the aisle towards them with her wand out. She always looked stern, but now she looked downright furious. And Remus surprised himself by feeling a strange sort of gratitude. Because he hadn't known what Sirius's mother had been going to say, and he had had a brief, panicked feeling that it was going to be about him, and his illness. It was stupid- it was such a closely guarded secret, after all. There was no way that anyone else would know, that didn't need to know. But the fear had still been there.

“Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew,” McGonagall said, in lieu of a more normal greeting. “Would the three of you inform Mister Black that I wish to speak with him?” She looked down at the small pile of ashes, all that remained of the Howler. “I've a good mind to ban those wretched things.” Remus had to agree- he had known that they were bad, but this was a thousand times worse than he had expected.

The professor left then, and for a moment the three of them were quiet. Then, James got to his feet.

“I'm going to find him. Do you two want to come along?” Peter frowned.

“I don't know. I don't think he likes me very much, so I will probably make things worse.” James sighed, and turned to Remus.

“What about you, Remus? You wanna come?” Remus blinked at him for a moment, surprised that James actually remembered his name. Then he felt silly for finding that surprising. After all, they had been living together for a week. Of course James remembered his name.

“Yeah,” he said, getting to his feet. He wanted to say more, but once again the words got stuck in his throat. How many more words would get lodged there? How long before they flowed out of him as easily as they did with everyone else?

Together, the three of them- Peter had decided to tag along, in the end- made their way along the corridors, trying to find Sirius. They were all hoping that he was still on the ground floor at least, since if he had gone up one of the staircases, he would become a needle in the school's haystack.

“What we need,” James said, after about ten minutes of searching, “is a map of the school.” They both looked at him, silently agreeing. Remus wondered why they hadn't been given a map in the first place. Possibly because not even the teachers knew all the ins and outs of this school, and therefore, they would be unable to accurately describe the layout of the building.

“Exactly,” Remus replied. He wanted to tell them his theory, about why they weren't just given a map upon arrival. But, as usual, he found that he couldn't.

“You know,” Peter added, “in the Muggle world we have a saying: Be the change you wish to see in the world. In other words, if we want a map of the school, we should get cracking and make our own.” He may be on to something- though Remus wasn't entirely sure how they would go about that, creating a map of Hogwarts.

“I like the sound of that, Peter.” Their conversation was cut short, however, when they turned the next corner. In their search, they had ended up near the Slytherin common room, and it was here that they found Sirius. He was sitting in the corridor, with his legs stretched out and his back against the wall. His hair was sticking up for once, and part of Remus thought it looked better that way.

“How did you three find me?” They walked over to him, and sat down beside him. James sat on one side, Remus the other, and Peter sat next to James.

“We looked,” Remus said, simply. For some reason, that brought a smile to Sirius' face, albeit a very weak one. And for some reason, that made Remus smile too.

“McGonagall wants to talk to you,” James said eventually. “I think it's about the Howler.” Sirius closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.

“Do you think I'll be in trouble?” They all shook their heads, and Sirius sighed, almost sounding relieved. “I'm sorry you guys had to hear that.” James just shrugged.

“Don't worry about it, mate.” They were all quiet for a moment. Then James spoke again. “Gentlemen, I have a proposition. You don't have to agree, but I want to put it forward anyway.” He was talking strangely, more formally than usual. Remus wondered if he'd rehearsed this.

“What is it?” Peter asked, curiously. James smiled at him. Yeah, he'd definitely rehearsed this.

“Unless something truly terrible happens, we will be living together for the next seven years. Now, if the three of you wish that to be the extent of our relationship, that's fine. But I see something here, a potential for something greater. We could be great friends, I think. I know it's a bit early to be saying this sort of thing, but I would very much like to be friends with you guys.” He held out his hand. “So, what do you say?” Sirius surprised them all by putting his hand over James' first. Then Peter followed suit, though he still looked slightly afraid of Sirius.

Remus was not sure what to do, or how he should respond. On the one hand, he wanted to be friends with them. In fact, he was taken aback by how much he wanted to be friends with them. But on the other hand, he knew that this was a serious risk. They could find out his secret at any time, and once that happened he didn't know what he'd do. Even without that, what kind of friend could he be to them? He could barely speak, how was he supposed to communicate with them? But there was still a part of him that wanted to work past that, and it was that part which ultimately won. It was that part which made him put his hand over Peter's.

“One for all, and all for one!” Peter said, and together, they lifted their hands. It was cheesy, and it was ridiculous. But it was also strangely perfect. It was the first perfect moment they would share, but it would not be the last.


End file.
